With YouTube, your practice can post procedure videos, before and after videos, a series of videos with health information, a “Meet Your Doctor” clip, and more. And, with more than 1 billion people visiting YouTube each month globally, it is easy to see how using this social media powerhouse can help you grow your independent practice, increase patient visits, and generate practice awareness. Since YouTube is part of Google, set up is easy and very similar to setting up your other Google social sites.

Step # 1 – Using Your Google Account
Go to www.YouTube.com and click “Sign In” in the upper right corner. Make sure to sign in using the information you set up for your practice’s Google+ page. Next, click “My Channel” on the left-hand side of the screen. A box will pop up showing “Use YouTube As”. Make sure your information is correct and click “Create Channel”.

Step # 2 – Automation Makes It Easy
Since you signed in through your Google+ account, Google automatically transfers all of your practice’s information to your YouTube channel.

Step # 3 – Verification
Now that your YouTube channel is set up, the final step is verification. Click “Channel” on the left-hand side of your screen and then “Status and Features”. Next to your profile picture you will see a button that says “Verify”. Click it and choose whether to verify via phone or text. Once YouTube is assured that you are not a robot, you will be free to start posting videos for your practice.

If you have not set up a Google account for your practice yet, use the following steps to get started on your medical practice YouTube:

Step # 1 – Getting a Google Account
Your first step is to go to www.YouTube.com and click “Sign In” on the upper right. Next click “New to YouTube? Create an account”. You will then be prompted to fill in the blanks to create a new Google account. Remember, since your YouTube channel will be used for your practice, it is best not to use a personal Google account to set it up. Instead, use a separate Google account created for your business and a sign-in that you feel comfortable sharing with your staff members who will be posting your videos.

Step # 2 – Confirmation
Google will send you an email to confirm your account. Follow the link provided and then move to the next step.

Step # 3 – Your Username
In this step, you will choose your username for your practice’s YouTube account. Ideally, this will be your practice name. However, if it is already taken, get creative. You can add the name of the city you are in to your username or even its initials.

Step # 4 – Profile Set Up
This is actually a non-step. Since your profile will be linked to your Google account rather than a Google+ account, you can skip setting up the profile here.

Step # 5 – Channel Name
Now that your housekeeping is done, click “Back to YouTube” and click the “My Channel” link on the left-hand side of the page. A box will pop up showing “Use YouTube As”. Make sure that the name you have chosen is entered correctly and then click “Create Channel”.

Step # 6 – Verification
Just like in the verification section of step # 3 above, click “Channel” on the left-hand side of your screen and then “Status and Features”. You will see a button that says “Verify”. Click it, and choose whether to verify via phone or text. Once YouTube knows you are not a robot, you are ready to go.

Whichever way you choose to start your YouTube business account for your practice, you will be glad that you did. Engaging your existing and potential patients through video is a valuable tool in your practice’s growth. And, as an added benefit, YouTube can help you build your email list, allowing you to reach out to potential patients easier by letting you embed a sign-up form directly into your YouTube videos. Don’t wait any longer to put the power of video to work for your independent practice. Start setting up your YouTube account today.